Associate

About Us

Stone King is an ambitious and friendly firm specialising in the Charity, Education, Faith, Public , Business & Social Enterprise, and Private Client sectors.  Our collaborative culture and core values are intertwined with our ethos of doing the right thing by our clients, communities, and our people. Our passion for the sectors we work in and the purpose-driven work we do with our clients has resulted in SK being recognised as national leaders in our specialist fields across the country.

The Opportunity

This is a fantastic opportunity for an Associate to join our progressive Information Law Team, to play a pivotal role in managing and overseeing advice given on data protection and privacy and freedom of information across  our sectors, while actively contributing to the growth and success of the firm. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in this legal field and if possible some experience of marketing and business development, demonstrating the ability to build and expand clientele. The role will be based in any of our offices - we are flexible on location in proximity to our 6 nationwide offices.

This role is an exciting opportunity to develop your career within a highly regarded national firm and work with a high calibre client base from the outset.

Reasons to Apply

• Working with our nationally renowned specialists and sectors, you’ll have the opportunity to work closely with our specialists across the firm.
• To be part of an ambitious, collaborative and friendly national firm where our culture and values are at the heart of everything we do. We believe our people are our greatest asset and strive to create the best place to work.
• Excellent benefits for our people, with a focus on wellbeing and development at the forefront.
• Hybrid working - Stone King is proud to be a signatory of the Mindful Business Charter as part of its commitment to mental health and wellbeing. We want to support all of our people in achieving a healthy work/ life balance, and would be happy to speak with prospective candidates about flexible working arrangements.

The Team

Our cross-sector Information Law Team undertakes a wide variety of work, such as:

• Advising on UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
• Statutory requests for information including subject access requests and FOIA requests.
• Other individual rights under UK GDPR such as the right to erasure.
• Drafting information law related documentation including policies, privacy notices, and consent mechanisms.
• Data breach management and reporting.
• Advising on and drafting data sharing agreements and data processor agreements in a commercial context, whether on a project specific basis or in connection with mergers in the Education, Charity & Social Enterprise and Business sectors.
• Compliance with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 particularly in relation to direct marketing and fundraising.
• Handling complaints to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), and liaising with the ICO in relation to such complaints.
• Advising on privacy by design and data security, including drafting and advising on Data Protection Impact Assessments.
• Cookie and website compliance.
• Conducting external and internal training, as well as delivering webinars.

Key Responsibilities

General duties include, but are not limited to:

• Effectively manage an individual caseload (with supervision where appropriate);
• Attend to clients of the Firm in the office or elsewhere if needed;
• Work in a collegiate and collaborative way within the immediate Information Law Team and wider Firm;
• Communicate promptly and effectively both internally to colleagues and externally to clients;
• Maintain your continuing professional development requirements (where relevant) and take an active interest in furthering your knowledge within the field of information law;
• An opportunity to delivering internal and external training (face to face and online);
• An opportunity to develop and delivering webinars.
• To attend and be involved in preparation for marketing and business development events and activities.
• Ongoing learning is something that will continue in your career at Stone King; we aim to be leaders in our chosen fields, often providing workshops and seminars not only for our people but also for external clients on key areas of law.

Essential

• A qualified Solicitor with experience advising on the UK GDPR, the DPA and ideally also FOIA

Or:

• An experienced Data Protection Officer/Practitioner that holds a professional qualification in Information Law such as the BCS/ISEB Certificate in Data Protection or, Practitioner certificate in Data Protection (PDP) or Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) from IAPP or similar qualification.
• A strong commitment to career development and further learning.
• Previous experience handling own caseload and ability to work independently and as part of the team.
• Someone who performs well under pressure and can manage a sometimes intensive workload.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to prioritise workload.
• Previous experience of supervision and development of others.
• Attention to detail.
• IT literate including Office 2010.

Desirable

• Experience working within the Education, Charity and Public Sectors funding arena would be advantageous.
• CIPPE or equivalent qualification is desirable.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Individual differences are embraced at Stone King, and we strive to create an environment in which people feel supported and able to be themselves. We have a partner-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy Group, and a dedicated DE&I Adviser. We are committed to promoting an inclusive working environment that supports the growth and development of all our people, and we welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and identities. As part of our continued commitment to an inclusive working environment, we are proud to be part of the Race Fairness Commitment, the Age Friendly Employer Pledge and a Disability Confident Employer.

Stone King are signatories of the Mindful Business Charter as part of our commitment to mental health and wellbeing. We want to support all of our people in achieving a healthy work/ life balance and would be happy to speak with prospective candidates about flexible working arrangements.

As part of our commitment to DE&I, we want our recruitment practices to be as inclusive as possible, which means we will make reasonable adjustments to help you perform to your best, so please let us know if you need us to make any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process. Our recruitment team are on hand to discuss any reasonable adjustments with candidates and can provide full job details and applications in alternative formats if required. You can contact our recruitment team via email at Recruitment@stoneking.co.uk or 01225 326770.

As a Disability Confident employer, Stone King LLP is committed to offering an interview to any job applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the role as defined by the job description and person specification. A full copy of the person specification and job description can be provided by contacting our Recruitment team.  In some recruitment situations such as high-peak times, we might need to limit the overall numbers of interviews we offer. This will include the number of interviews offered to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria. When that happens, we’ll still aim to offer a proportionate number of interviews to disabled applicants.

• Competitive salary
• Profit Share Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Private Medical Insurance
• Life Assurance (4x Salary)
• Pension scheme
• 28 days holiday (in addition to statutory UK holidays)
• Additional day allocated for CSR activities per annum

Closing date: 24 December 2024

Adverts normally close at midday on the closing date, however vacancies may close early if sufficient applications have been received. Therefore we would encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Stone King LLP is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity by encouraging all our staff to achieve their full potential and guaranteeing that all employment decisions are taken without reference to irrelevant information or discriminatory practices.

Recruitment agencies – please do not send us unsolicited CVs. If you do so, we reserve the right to contact the candidate directly and your T&Cs will not apply.

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